I figured out how to get my slapshot airborne consistently. I had one of those Aha! moments and all the sudden everything clicked. So nice to be able to take a slapshot that doesn't skid and bounce across the ice.

At age 42 (almost 43) I'm starting my first full season in the A-League tonight at 10:00pm. I've been playing in the Over-30 the last 6 years which is between A & B skill wise, ... but this is still a huge jump up for me. I've subbed in the A-League before, and I even scored a goal... but in all honesty I've really got the the butterflies going right now. I was asked to play not for my speed or skill, but I'm a Team-First guy and I have a lot of fun out there. I've been told that my enthusiasm and love for the game is contageous. I'm nervous as hell...

scored a goal but I shot it with my head down (I know!) and when I looked up, there was a D right in front of me...and I was skating at speed...with no time to stop I plowed right into him, upending both of us and then went for a slide using the poor guy as a surfboard. Luckily for me he saw the funny side

I"m nursing bruised ribs. I got my skates sharpened this weekend and the idiot didn't do them to the profile I specified on the tag. I ended up with a deeper cut than I've ever skated. The moment of discover was when I was in warmups going into the corner full stride and went into my stop about 4 feet from the boards. The edges grabbed and didn't slide at all and I went right over the handle bars and flew into the boards back first. Knocked the wind out of me, caused my teammates to bust ribs laughing at me, and today I hurt like a ******. I should sue.... j/k but they better fix these for free and fix them right.

Raked the entire lawn, cooked dinner, ate half of it, then sprinted out the door for our last scrimmage before league starts. Played against a team two levels higher (again). Kept it at 1-1 for the first half but let in at least a dozen unanswered goals in the second half.

Not thrilled with my game, but because we were so outmatched it was alright. I'm a speed guy and get neutralized against opponents like this, so it was all chip the puck out of our end and dump it in and go change for an hour. Had maybe 2-3 shots on goal and they all kinda sucked.

Really pushed it at open skate this week with hockey stops and backwards skating. Day after, ended up with a non-trauma related bruise under my kneecap and some discomfort. No pops, excessive swelling or pain - I've narrowed it down to two or three things and I'm not thrilled. Perhaps I need to take on some conditioning.

Really pushed it at open skate this week with hockey stops and backwards skating. Day after, ended up with a non-trauma related bruise under my kneecap and some discomfort. No pops, excessive swelling or pain - I've narrowed it down to two or three things and I'm not thrilled. Perhaps I need to take on some conditioning.

are you lifting your legs off the ices very much? your technique should be focusing on making it less effort. C-cuts are good drills for this, where you dont lift your legs at all and propel yourself with just the c-cuts.

are you lifting your legs off the ices very much? your technique should be focusing on making it less effort. C-cuts are good drills for this, where you dont lift your legs at all and propel yourself with just the c-cuts.

I can do that, and do it for maybe a few minutes forwards and backwards. But I spent about 30 minutes on just raw acceleration and hockey stops, as well as turning/skating backwards. I think the issue might be that I haven't had any strength training or exercise routine for a couple of years now, compounded by whatever poor technique I have and being somewhat knock-kneed.

We were doing a backwards skating edge/recovery drill, where you get up some speed backwards, then crouch down as low as you can go while maintaining momentum. That part was fine, but then our coach wanted us to put one knee down (still sliding backwards) and pick it back up into the crouch. I tried to put my right leg down but didn't get my toe high enough when I sent it back, so my toe caught on the ice and the momentum yanked it out to the side. I ended up on my butt with both legs in front of me. I think the combination of my leg getting yanked out while I was trying to hold that leg in is what did it.

It's sore today but not painful (unless I'm swinging the leg up to get into the car or something), though the soreness sometimes radiates into my glute and down the inside of my leg. I've been icing it on and off, and tomorrow I'll start some heat/very gentle stretching instead of going to my Tuesday skills class. Hopefully it will be pain free by the end of the week so I can try playing in my league game on Sunday.

got back into the gym for more heavy lifting (squats, deadlift, bench). every year i have to do a fitness test for the military, so the month before I always just train to the test, and it brought me back to square one, so im hoping i can start working out basically.

sat/sun/mon/tues and then take the rest of the week off before my games on friday, and not be too adversely affected.

Today I am in more pain then usual after a intramural game. However it was worth it because we managed to beat a team with a bench and we only had 5 skaters plus me the goalie. Down 3-0 at one point we came back and won 4-3. Just seemed like one of those games where it goes right for the most point. Felt so good to win then I had to wake up for 8am classes.

I'll start doing this more regularly (Saturday games, tomorrow I have one too tho). I play Bantam Houseleague (Parents won't let me play travel, too expensive and too much time) So far through 4 games I have 12 goals and 6 assists for 18 points. 4.5 ppg is good in my league (I hope), and I'm surpised how well I'm doing. I'm playing against mostly kids a year older (98-99 borns in the league) and I am leading the league in goals and points.

Decided I'm going to try playing roller hockey without wearing socks, just to see what it's like. On the ice I always wear normal thick socks plus long rugby/soccer ones on top, it doesn't feel right otherwise